The case plays into old prejudices against Roma, also known as gypsies

A lawyer for a Roma couple accused of abducting the girl found living with them says the pair adopted the child from her biological mother.

In a case that has generated huge interest in Greece, authorities have charged the couple with abducting the child they call "Maria." They appeared in court Monday and were remanded into custody pending a trial.

Authorities released photos of the child, possibly 4 or 5 years old, last week and sought public tips on her birth identity.

Kostas Katsavos, one of the couple's lawyers, told the Reuters news agency that they adopted Maria with the permission of her biological mother.

He conceded that the adoption was "non-legal." But he said he believes the biological mother will be located soon and will verify the couple's claims.

The Roma village where 'Maria' was found 7 photos

The Roma village where 'Maria' was found7 photos

The Roma village where 'Maria' was found – Children play in a Roma settlement in Farsala, Greece, where the 'Mystery Girl' was found on Saturday, October 19. The case has generated huge interest in Greece.

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The Roma village where 'Maria' was found7 photos

Photos: The Roma village where 'Maria' was found – Greek authorities have requested international assistance to help identify the four-year-old girl.

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The Roma village where 'Maria' was found7 photos

The Roma village where 'Maria' was found – A handout photo released by Greek police shows the girl, who was found in central Greece during a crackdown on illegal activities by members of the Roma community.

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The Roma village where 'Maria' was found7 photos

The Roma village where 'Maria' was found – A woman holding her child poses for photos at the camp near Farsala, which lies some 280km (173 miles) north of Athens, Greece, on Sunday, October 20.

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The Roma village where 'Maria' was found7 photos

The Roma village where 'Maria' was found – The lawyer for a Roma couple accused of abducting the blond girl found living with them in Farsala says the pair adopted the child from her biological mother.

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The Roma village where 'Maria' was found7 photos

The Roma village where 'Maria' was found – But the police say they are suspicious of the records the couple have provided for the child and for other children in the couple's care.

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The Roma village where 'Maria' was found7 photos

The Roma village where 'Maria' was found – Panagiotis Pardalis, a spokesman for Smile of the Child, the charity taking care of Maria, said the girl was found amid "bad living conditions, poor hygiene."

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"They love her, and they took care as their own child," Katsavos said.

Haralambos Dimitriou, head of the local Roma community, said the couple took the girl in because her Bulgarian mother couldn't keep her. He said Maria was raised like a "normal" child.

Video provided by the Roma and shown to the media in the Roma settlement near Larissa does appear to show Maria dancing with a woman who is believed to be the same person now charged with abducting her. The Roma offered the video to demonstrate that Maria was happy and in good care.

Police say they are suspicious of the records the couple provided for the child and for other children in their care. In addition to the abduction charge, the couple are accused of falsifying official documents.

Authorities asked questions about Maria because she has fair skin and blonde hair while her parents have darker complexions typical of Roma, also known as gypsies, a race descended from Indian nomads who face widespread discrimination in Europe.

Thousands of calls poured into Greece after authorities released photos of the girl last week.

Authorities released photos of the two adults Monday, hoping the publicity will reach someone who can provide more information about them.

Child 'doing much better'

A spokesman for the charity taking care of Maria said Sunday that she is in a group home where "she is doing much better."

Smile of the Child spokesman Panagiotis Pardalis said the girl was found in "bad living conditions, poor hygiene."

The child was found Thursday in the Roma community near Larissa in central Greece.

Authorities said the blonde child looked nothing like the man and woman with her, and DNA testing confirmed that they were not her biological parents.

A police statement said the couple "changed repeatedly their story about how they got the child."

The government news agency said police found suspicious birth and baptism records as well as family registrations that claimed the woman was mother to 10 children and the man was the father of four more.

Marietta Palavra, another attorney representing the couple, said DNA tests will show that five of the children belong to the man claiming to be their father but that there aren't conclusive results for the others. She would not elaborate.

Maria's case plays into old prejudices about them stealing children for forced labor.

Pardalis mentioned such a possibility, saying, "We don't have any other information if this girl was forced to work or to beg on streets."

And the government news agency raised "the possibility of the existence of a ring bringing pregnant women to Greece from Bulgaria and then taking their children for sale." The agency also cited past "reports" that empty coffins were found for infants who supposedly were stillborn to foreign mothers in Athens.